Social Media is Bull$#!t These Days

You’ll find this amusing.

I had a list of ideas to make content for social media, and what kept coming up was things that piss me off.

So today, let me share a list of things that piss me off in the fitness and nutrition industry these days.

1) ‘You have to run 9.7 miles to burn off the calories to eat this blizzard’

So this guy @reecerunning made a post about how you have to basically nearly run a half marathon to burn off the calories of the blizzard he ate.

This is NOT productive for people.

I wouldn’t mind it if he said “Hey, did you know there are over 1300 calories in your blizzard? That’s over half most people's daily calorie needs!”

Instead, he is using fear tactics, demonizing foods, and what’s worse is this can reinforce some individuals' thought process that you need to punish yourself with exercise if you eat certain foods.

If you see people or even websites will have it, as food compared to the exercise you need to do to burn it off, stop paying attention to them immediately.

This is not productive.

First off, half your metabolic rate is from your resting and existing.

So, the average person’s requirement is 2000 calories, and thus just from their BMR burn almost 1000 calories.

The reason I said it’s more productive to just inform the people of the calories compared to their requirements is because it’s information they can use.

I’ve had clients fit that exact blizzard into their daily calories, and NOT have to run 9 miles to do it.

I don’t want people to think they can’t have food unless they exercise like a psycho.

I want you to enjoy your blizzards, cookies, cakes, or whatever food makes your heart sing.

But the more practical approach is to make you respect how much, how often you should consider having it, and how to practice eating the foods mindfully.

I’ll also mention this is a tall, slim, fit individual.

The reason I say that is what brings me to my next point.

2) Watching Naturally Lean And Fit People Tell You How To Lose Body Fat Like It’s Easy

This Reece individual is someone who runs like a savage all the time. I actually have a great deal of respect for that because running long distances sucks.

But I’m betting this comes somewhat naturally to him.

There are so many fitness influencers who are naturally jack and lean. That’s what makes them great for the job.

It’s kind of like being cast in an acting role. You just need to look the part and say these words.

Now, I’ll even say there are quite a few accounts that even have good information about training and nutrition. It’s not even wrong.

But when it comes across as easy or really simple to them, it annoys me.

It’s like a son or daughter inherited a very wealthy family business.

Now they might know how to keep the business going because their parents showed them how.

But they don’t know what it’s like to be broke.

And these fit people don’t know what it’s like to be overweight.

They don’t know what it’s like to binge eat their emotions away because of a lack of self-confidence.

They don’t know what it’s like to feel uncomfortable in their own skin for weeks months and years.

The worst is when they don’t know what it’s like to seriously not have time to learn how to do that.

But they still make it look easy and say “Just eat in a calorie deficit.”

I recommend you always investigate someone’s back story. Make sure they battled if you expect them to understand your battle.

Now the super fit people really annoy me, but I can’t blame them for doing what they are doing, because again they are naturally good at it.

The next one annoys me way more.

3) Scaring People Of All Food By Using Extremes

I have no doubt you’ve seen an insane amount of people going through the grocery store and listing things that are toxic chemicals.

You basically feel like everything is poison.

You can’t have a decent meal with a coworker these days without someone saying “Did you know that’s actually not healthy?”

These people need to F@#k off.

Ask them where they found that out….

The internet. Social media. Not reliable sources.

“But it was a doctor on Instagram!”

Believe it or not, doctors are NOT experts in the nutritional field. They are experts in medicine, and treating diseases.

Don’t get me wrong… I fell for it too.

I did the carnivore plunge because the guy sounded smart. Good old, Carnivore MD, Dr. Paul Saladino even had studies he could reference.

But it was a smoke screen, because when I finally listened to someone else, like Layne Norton, who knows how to actually read studies, it turns out these have massive holes in them, and Dr. Paul is ignoring mountains of evidence that counter is the point.

This brings me to my next one that I know Carnivore MD shouts all day every day.

4. “Seed Oils are Toxic”

This blanket statement has no solid research backing.

Some may argue that ‘as the use of seed oils increased, obesity went up.’

Well, a lot of shit when bad in our society in the same corresponding time.

This is when you say “Correlation is not causation.”

Some will argue that Seed oils are toxic, but they have no research of controlled trials for evidence to back up this claim.

What I mean by that is if you have an experiment when some people have seed oils and some are not, as long as the protein and calories are equated, you get the same health outcomes.

It is valuable to note, that olive oil is likely a healthier alternative seeing as it has a better omega 3 to 6 ratio, but what matters most is the total calories.

The actual problem with seed oils comes from the use of them being predominately in fast food and deep frying.

Most of those who are screaming out about seed oils, are generally those who have an extreme diet to sell you.

This is the unfortunate state of the training and nutrition industry right now.

Society is losing this battle against obesity, yet we are supposed to know more than ever?

If you are someone looking for the right path for fat loss and healthy living, you will become more and more confused.

My list of 'things that piss me off' isn't even done, but I wanted to keep it to just these 4 for today and leave you with something helpful.

This is the best truth I can give you based on my own opinion. (notice I didn’t say I have THE truth but my best version of it).

There are no secrets. It’s just hard.

The good news is it can be made simple.

It is simply, these 5 things

- Calorie deficit that sustains your energy enough so you can still enjoy your life

- Eat around .7 to 1g of protein per pound of body weight

- Walk 10K steps a day

- Strength train lower and upper body 3-4 days a week

- Bonus – do something with cardio 1-2x/week

I said ‘simple’ NOT easy.

Your life is complex. You have work and relationships that demand a lot from you. And all of those add up to stress.

All of that, AND you have to learn how to do those big 5 things VERY consistently.

I’ll be totally honest with you.

If I wasn’t a trainer, and my life and job didn’t revolve around fitness and food, I think I’d very likely be overweight.

It sucks.

But the silver lining is a really cool message.

Those who keep to those simple things – NOT the annoying distractions of social media – have an amazing story to tell you.

They get to tell you how much better they feel. How much MORE energy they have, and that it’s all worth it.

I don’t think too many people ever regretted changing their lives to improve their health and fitness.

Have you ever heard someone say that?

“Man, this lifestyle sucks. I’m down 30lbs. I go to bed earlier. I wake up with no joint pain. I’m not bloated or hangry. I have awesome steady energy all day. This stuff is so stupid.”

I personally haven’t heard that. (If you know anyone, please send them to me. I’d be fascinated to meet this person.)

The major thing here is to keep it simple. Listen to those who know your battle and who aren’t speaking in extremes.

I hope I can be one of those messages for you.

Keep up the battle,

RQ